Two people fell nearly 20 feet from Snowmass chairlift, including one in a sit-ski

A woman in a sit-ski and a lift attendant fell 17 feet from a lift at Snowmass Ski Area on Tuesday afternoon, according to a resort official.

The 33-year-old woman in the sit-ski was taken to the hospital and is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, an Aspen Skiing Co. spokesman said Thursday, and the lift attendant was not hurt.

Jeff Hanle, Skico’s vice president of communications, said the woman was in the Challenge Aspen program and with an instructor getting on the Elk Camp Lift when there was “a misload that resulted in the woman loading the chair alone and not fully seated.”

A lift attendant grabbed the woman from behind in an attempt to keep her on the chairlift and the attendant was carried up the lift off the ground, Hanle said.

“A second lift attendant stopped the chair and both individuals fell to the ground” between towers 2 and 3, Hanle said.

A sit-ski is a seat that is mounted on one or two skis with a suspension system in between. They are typically used by skiers who don’t have use of their legs. Challenge Aspen is a program that helps gets disabled people on the slopes.

Hanle said the skiing company has conducted “a full review of the incident and will work directly with Challenge Aspen and the parties involved. We are all hoping for a complete recovery for our injured guest.”